Episode 42: The Manuscript is Finished! … or so I thought…

November 16, 2012

On August 29, 2011, after a solid non-stop month of writing, editing, and integration, I declared the book finished. Yes, there was a little mop-up to be done, but the bulk of the work was complete. I sent the manuscript to Steve at White Cloud, to the other team members, as well as a couple of people who were already under NDA, and awaited their editorial comments. (We had successfully hit our target to finish the book four weeks before the deadline to permit feedback before the final copy went to print)

I had been writing since July 2010 when I started the manuscript sitting at a Paris sidewalk café. During that entire time I had felt like a blind man trying to find his way through a unfamiliar maze. I’d started the project being largely ignorant about the art of writing…and had pretty much finished the same way. For me writing was difficult, frustrating, and highly stressful. I hadn’t slept well in months, and had pushed my mind and body to the breaking point.

Even with this momentous milestone, we were a long way from the finish line—a sentiment I included in my message to the team:

Team MM! One big thing complete! Please remember that we’ve yet to file patents and we’re still deep in stealth mode.

What a relief it was for the writing to be completed. Finally, I could take a breath and get some sleep…